Grooming, 259 



even with their coats caked witli perspiration and filth, .lud their 

 hmbs cased with mud^ (provided they have only been allowed an hour 

 or two to cool after hard ridini^J than to groom them before they arc 

 turned abroad. Now^ notiiino- can be more preposterous than this 

 mode of treatment. For, even in winter, they ought to begroomed 

 under the above circumstances, before they be turned out, and the 

 more severe the weather is, the more necessary, indeed, does the ope- 

 ration of grooming become. 



I am generally reluctant in bringing forward the argument of 

 analogy; because I am aware it often proves a deceptive guide to 

 us in many of our researches ; but I will for once have recourse to 

 it, in order to support my opinion. Suppose I meet in winter, a half- 

 n^ketl. wretch, shivering with cold, his swollen limbs nearly benumb- 

 ed with the fiost, and without taking him to a fire, or administer- 

 ing food to liim, I oi'der his skin to be rubbed or brushed until the 

 surface.glow^yill ov,ei':;fi;oin the friction ; will he be less able to pro- 

 ceed on. his jourfiey or mme liable to catch cold after the operation, 

 than if such. friction had noi been performed upon his skin? The 

 question answers itself., /Fric^ons to the skin are, in fact, salutary (o 

 animals, under almo><t every possible circumstance. To hunnm inva- 

 lids the use of the. ilesli- brush often proves a tolerai)ie substitute for 

 c\ercise ; and;titJs,w,(?ll.kiio\vn.:tlia,t strong frictions to the skin are 

 found to aid in promotjing condition^ .nivt on;lyiii?)tiors!ps, but otliev 

 animals, in consc(pR'nce. of the |)r9digiou9 S:ympatby existing bc- 

 ti^eeo the stomach, and this integument.,. j.Fqr,. .prize cattle that aiv? 

 curj[;ied and brushed,, not only look sleeker, ^I'^^l more agreeable to 

 the eye, but are found to fatten faster, for the care bestowed upon tlicii- 

 skins. Hence, when the powers <)f th.c stomach fail in a Iloise, 



